Tuesday, January 01, 2013

Happy 7th Anniversary TransGriot Blog!

You can also thank Jordana LeSesne for pushing me to get the blogging party started as well thanks to a phone conversation we had in November 2005. I was griping about the dearth of transgender blogs at the time focused on trans issues from an Afrocentric perspective, and she said after patiently listening to my lament, "So when are you going to start it?"

She didn't leave it there. Jordana also made me commit to a start date for the soon to be born blog and I chose January 1.

This is the closing paragraph from that initial post.

One thing I can promise you dear reader is that you won't be
disappointed. There will be times I'll make you laugh. Other times I'll
touch your heart. Then there will be the occasional time or two when I
piss you off. But my goal is to make you think and expose you to some of
the drama that African-American transpeeps (and transpeople in general)
deal with.

The mission statement and hit counter came later, but the humble beginnings of that first post have now led to several awards and me having over 4.5 million people around the world reading the over 6000 posts I've compiled in this electronic space.

And what's the TransGriot Mission Statement you ask?

The TransGriot blog's
mission is to become the griot of our community. I will introduce you
to and talk about your
African descended transbrothers and transsisters across the Diaspora,
reclaim and document our chocolate flavored trans history, speak truth
to power, comment on the things that impact our trans community from an
Afrocentric perspective and enlighten you about the general things that
go on around me and in the communities that I am a member of.

Hopefully in the now seven years this blog has been in operation, I've lived up to that mission statement.

I know I've lived up to everything I said in the closing paragraph of that January 1, 2006 post.

TransGriot Blog Mission Statement

The TransGriot blog's mission is to become the griot of our community. I will introduce you to and talk about your African descended transbrothers and transsisters across the Diaspora, reclaim and document our chocolate flavored trans history, speak truth to power, comment on the things that impact our trans community from an Afrocentric perspective and enlighten you about the general things that go on around me and in the communities that I am a member of.

--Mission Statement compiled January 2, 2011

The TransGriot Loves Comments

Feel free to leave comments on the posts. But bear in mind that you are guests in my cyberhome. As soon as I get to them, your comments are posted at my pleasure.

They will post as soon as I approve them, so no need to repeat sending them.

I strive to make it a safe zone for people to respectfully express themselves, but I have zero tolerance for hate speech, blatantly disrespectful comments or ad spam.

2014 GLAAD Media Awards Outstanding Blog Finalist

2011 BWA Best LGBT Blog Finalist

2010 BWA Judges' Vote Winner Best LGBT Blog

2008 Best LGBT Blog Finalist

TransGriot Speaking/Education Efforts Info

The TransGriot is available for speaking engagements, college lectures, media interviews, conferences or Trans 101 education efforts for your school, business or professional organizations.

For events outside the Houston metro area, I ask that travel and lodging expenses be covered. Ask about speaking fee.

For additional info, e-mail me at transgriot@yahoo.com with the date and details of your proposed event. Book as early as possible for your date because slots rapidly fill up.

CMBA Disclaimer

This personal blog allows me to express my constitutionally guaranteed First Amendment free speech rights and kick knowledge to y'all at the same time on various issues.

Nothing in it shall be construed, spun, remixed, altered or interpreted to mean it represents the views of my employers or the boards of the organizations that I sit on.

Photos and videos posted to this blog are used for illustrative purposes only. Unless noted in the post, photos/videos don't indicate or are not intended to imply the person depicted in said photo/video is transgender